Polka Dot Preggo Tops

Description

What’s not to love about a spring polka dot top (or two?) I made this black & white polka dot top as one of four pieces for PatternReview’s mini-wardrobe contest, intended to coordinate with a skirt, cardigan, and dress. The orange-and-teal top is the (wearable) muslin. My starting point was Jalie 2005, a basic non-maternity crew-neck short-sleeved T-shirt pattern. I scooped out the neckline, did a major full bust adjustment, did a major belly/maternity adjustment, and converted the short sleeves to cap sleeves. The hems and sleeves are finished with a serger rolled hem, and the necklines are bound with self-fabric and topstitched with a twin needle on my regular sewing machine. If you’d like to try any of these alterations, I’ve detailed the entire modification process with step-by-step photos and tips on my blog, Polka Dot Overload.

Material Notes

For the muslin: Orange-and-teal polka dot rayon/poly/lycra from Fabric.com at $5.98/yard with similar stretch (40% crosswise) to my fashion fabric (50% crosswise). I used less than a yard. Don’t rush out and get this stuff—it does NOT have the silkiness/softness/richness/stretch I normally expect from rayon-blend knits, it’s quite thin, and the colors are pretty faded. Great for a cute summery weekend top, but not for work wear.
For the final: B&W polka-dot ITY poly jersey from Spandex House at $6/yard. It was my first time working with ITY and I loved it—it doesn’t seem to curl or fuss or wrinkle as much as other jerseys. Still, it is poly, and not quite as breathable as the cotton or rayon-blend knits I’ve worked with in the past. Again, I used less than a yard.

Credits

Wow, thanks everyone! This cheers me up since my sewing machine just broke down and needs to go to the repair shop… probably bringing my maternity sewing to an end, since I’m due in as little as… 7 weeks!

well done!
I’m doing a whole lot of maternity sewing at present as well- mainly recreating existing maternity tops and pants that are at the end of their wearable life-span but I have a few normal patterns I’d like to modify as well- you’ve done a fantastic job on these and I am very impressed.

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